HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe will drop 10 zeros from its hyper-inflated currency - turning 10 billion dollars into one - the country's reserve bank said Wednesday. President Robert Mugabe threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the country's economic and political unraveling.
Shop shelves are empty and there are chronic shortages of everything including medication, food, fuel, power and water. Eighty percent of the work force is unemployed and many who do have jobs don't earn enough to pay for bus fare.

On Wednesday, central bank governor Gideon Gono announced he was dropping 10 zeros from the currency, effective Friday. That comes a week after he introduced a 100 billion-dollar note which was not enough to buy a loaf of bread.

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Gono said the high rate of inflation was hampering the country's computer systems. Inflation is officially running at 2.2 million percent in Zimbabwe but independent economists say it's closer to 12.5 million percent. Computers, electronic calculators and automated teller machines at Zimbabwe's banks cannot handle basic transactions in billions and trillions of dollars.

Reading the thread title brought back the memory of some Mexican counterfiters last year. They tried to cash a million dollar bill at a seven eleven in Texas. Even in Texas they become a little suspecious when you buy a coke, bic pen, and a comb with a Million dollar bill.

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe will drop 10 zeros from its hyper-inflated currency - turning 10 billion dollars into one - the country's reserve bank said Wednesday. President Robert Mugabe threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the country's economic and political unraveling.
Shop shelves are empty and there are chronic shortages of everything including medication, food, fuel, power and water. Eighty percent of the work force is unemployed and many who do have jobs don't earn enough to pay for bus fare.